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Spot the difference, Saudi style

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Images of bare female flesh are banned in Saudi
Arabia. There's no efficient system in place
for removing the offensive material, however, which means that somebody has the
painstaking job of colouring all those arms, legs, midriffs and cleavages that
appear on the covers of Western magazines and imported products. The latest cover-up victim: American singer Katy Perry.

“What supreme sacrifices these noble men make for the sake of their fellow Saudi man!”

American
blogger "Susie of Arabia", 57, moved to Jeddah almost two years ago with her Saudi
Arabian husband. She posted these images on her blog, Susie's Big Adventure, which has just been censored by the Saudi authorities.

Strict
censorship is alive and well here in Saudi Arabia. The morality of the
citizens is of the utmost importance, and measures are in place to ensure that
people behave impeccably, although despite all the enforcement efforts,
sometimes people fall short.

Pork in any form is prohibited, and so is
pornography. Photos of women in books, magazines and product packaging are
routinely censored with black markers if any skin is showing, and sometimes
pages are just ripped right out. Sometimes the black marker is just scribbled
across the woman's image, like in the photo below of a package for a
maternity support belt.

Other times, the censor is much more careful about colouring
in the parts of the woman's body that are objectionable.

The other
night I went to a music shop to purchase a few CDs for my son, Adam. One of the
CDs I got is called “One of the Boys”, by a female artist named Katy
Perry.

When he opened up the CD, we were both astonished. I hadn't
noticed when I bought it, but the tightly sealed plastic-wrap packaging had
been removed and had been replaced with a clear plastic resealable
envelope-type wrapper.

So what it all boils
down to is that the Saudi government is actually paying religious police
members of the
Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to remove the plastic wrap from these CDs, open up the CD cases,
remove the front and back inserts and carefully and painstakingly colour in
with a marker any photos baring exposed female flesh that is deemed
objectionable. What supreme sacrifices these noble men make for the sake of
their fellow Saudi man!

(The CPVP is a government agency that employs religious police, called Muttawa, to make
sure that citizens adhere strictly to the teachings of Islam, especially
those pertaining to dress, socialization, morality and prayer. The commission
comprises approximately 10,000 Muttawa and has nearly 500 centres within
the country.)

Other examples of the black-marker treatment

One of American singer
Jenifer Lopez's album covers, before and after. Posted by “moaksey” on Flickr.

Even a cover bride is too
risqué for Saudi readers. Posted on Flickr by Omar Chatriwala.